


moments of connection in an uncertain world

by The_Eclectic_Bookworm



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/F, gratuitous flirting, set during the ersatz elevator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 03:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14228676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eclectic_Bookworm/pseuds/The_Eclectic_Bookworm
Summary: In which Olivia Caliban meets Janna (who goes by a lot of different names, depending on the day).





	moments of connection in an uncertain world

**Author's Note:**

> i don't even know how to preface this. but jenny calendar has a Type and it's very clearly soft genuine people with a penchant for learning, & olivia caliban also has a Type and it's very clearly suave brave people who want to do good, & they....would be really.....really cute together???? so that's what's on my mind folks

Olivia Caliban was having a bad day. She’d been ignored, stonewalled, and all-around not listened to when trying to talk to Mr. Poe, she was starting to very much regret taking an unpaid sabbatical, and the trolley she’d been meaning to catch back to Prufrock Prep had just taken off without her, the conductor smiling cheerfully in her general direction as the trolley pulled away. She was very close to wondering how this day could possibly get any worse when she remembered that, generally speaking, wondering those sorts of things led to even worse misfortunes, so she decided to keep her chin up and presume that the day might just get better while also trying not to cry.

This was when a taxi nearly ran her down. She shrieked, jumping back onto the curb.

“Oh my _god,_ ” said the woman in the front seat. “Jacques makes this thing look so easy, I am going to have _words_ with him when I see him again.”

“You almost ran me over!” said Olivia, indignant, breathless, and momentarily forgetting the fruitlessness of the day as a whole.

“Generally speaking, this isn’t my gig,” said the woman apologetically. Overall, it was somewhat difficult to tell what she looked like. The large sunglasses she was wearing made it impossible to see her eyes, as well as the rather lovely scarlet driving scarf that hid most of her dark hair. What was quite noticeable, however, was the deep red lipstick she was wearing, as it very nicely complimented her _very_ nice mouth. “Technically, this isn’t even my taxi.”

“Irresponsible driving really isn’t a good idea in this city,” said Olivia indignantly. “What if you ran down some small child?”

“ _Thank_ you, yes,” said the woman. “I very much agree that I should not be in charge of this taxi. Let’s put that aside for a second so I can ask you if you’re leaving town.”

Olivia exhaled, feeling the weight of her solitary search press down on her once again. “I interviewed an ice cream vendor, saw 20 minutes of a confusing movie about zombies, and ran into a dead end at a bank,” she said. “I don't know where I can go except home in defeat.”

The woman considered this. Then she said, “Need a lift?”

Olivia wavered. Most of the decisions she’d made today had ended in either failure or disaster or both.

“I get it,” said the woman. “I do. It really is exhausting and disheartening to think about orphans who lost their home and parents and got kidnapped on top of it all.”

“How did you know I was searching—” Olivia began, disbelieving.

“I pick things up,” said the woman. “And as it happens, I’m part of an organization.”

“A secret organization?”

“Well, not if you know about it,” said the woman, and gave Olivia a very pretty smile. “Listen, you want to get in or not?”

“You’re a volunteer,” Olivia realized aloud. The woman’s smile widened in response, which momentarily wiped all thought from Olivia’s mind (really, she looked _unfairly_ glamorous even in that completely unremarkable taxi), and, intrigued and more than just a bit interested in that smile, she managed to add, “I-I’m Olivia. Olivia Caliban.”

“Janna,” said the woman easily.

“Just Janna?” said Olivia, intrigued and a bit wary.

“ _Well,_ ” said Janna. “Jenny Calendar on occasion, Jennifer Snicket at family dinners, Jen-Jen Jellybean when some godforsaken fire-starter who thinks he’s an actor tries to get clever with me.” She adjusted her sunglasses. “I’ve found, Olivia Caliban, that one’s name is a remarkably flexible thing in times like these.”

Olivia nodded, slowly, then said, “And what should I call you?”

“Just Janna,” said Janna. “For the time being.”

* * *

 

Just-Janna-for-the-time-being drove like she’d learned how to drive two seconds ago and was absolutely convinced she had enough driving know-how to floor the gas at every possible opportunity. Olivia hung onto the passenger-side door for dear life until it nearly popped open, at which point she flattened herself against the backseat and compulsively attempted to adjust her bun. It really wasn’t working.

“Sorry,” Janna shouted over the roar of the engine. “This thing really is my brother’s baby. He’s the only one who really drives it all that well.”

“ _COULDN’T YOUR BROTHER HAVE PICKED ME UP, THEN,”_ shouted Olivia semi-hysterically.

“You know, I think he wanted to,” said Janna, and didn’t elaborate, choosing instead to run a red light.

“It seems—extremely unwise—to drive at these high speeds,” Olivia informed Jenny, by some miracle managing to finally calm herself down. It wasn’t lasting.

“Time, at this juncture, is of the essence,” said Janna without taking her eyes off the road.

“That turn you made was illegal,” Olivia pointed out.

“You’re not a police officer, are you?” said Janna, and didn’t wait for an answer, pulling the taxi to a screeching halt a few blocks away from 667 Dark Avenue. “Oh, and briefing! We’ve got intel that says the Quagmire triplets are somewhere in this building, so we’re about to climb up it with suction cups and safety ropes. Questions?”

“ _Yes,”_ said Olivia. _“Many._ ”

“Lovely!” said Janna, giving Olivia a cheerful smile, and got out of the car. Olivia fell back into the seats, took a few very long breaths, and finally stumbled out of the car, where Janna was rifling through a large bag and throwing things over her shoulder.

Apprehensively, Olivia said, “I do still have questions.”

“Most people do,” said Janna, and tossed Olivia a leather jacket. “This might work better than what you’re wearing right now.” At some point or another, she’d lost the scarf and sunglasses, and looked instead—surprisingly normal. Not quite as gorgeously mysterious. Her hair was soft, falling down and around her shoulders, and she had an easy smile as she sorted through weaponry and ropes and disguises, the same way one might make tea or pick up the groceries.

Olivia watched Janna for a few moments, feeling strangely calmed by the other woman’s relaxed elegance, then said, “Should I—change in the taxi?”

“That'd be smart, yes,” said Janna, who appeared to be trying to decide whether or not a harpoon gun would be necessary. She tossed Olivia a pair of leather pants. “That skirt might not work for wall-climbing,” she said, and went back to rifling through the bag.

Olivia took this into account and headed to change.

It was a bit of work, attempting to change out of one’s perfectly sensible blouse and skirt while also trying to make sure one’s incredibly beautiful companion wasn’t attempting to sneak a look _and_ trying to reconcile oneself with the fact that one perhaps _wanted_ one’s incredibly beautiful companion to show a modicum of interest in looking? Not that Olivia wanted Janna to be looking—she didn’t—it was just that if Janna _tried_ to look—oh, lord. Olivia redid her bun again, tucked a few flyaways into place, zipped up her jacket, and clambered awkwardly out of the back of the taxi, stepping up next to Janna.

“Hold this,” said Janna, handing Olivia what looked like some sort of a suction cup gun. “The weight feel right in your hands?”

“I—wouldn’t know,” Olivia managed. “This situation isn’t exactly something I’ve experienced before.”

Janna turned at that, stepping up and placing a hand over Olivia’s on the gun. Olivia shivered. “Go on instinct,” Janna said, and smiled slightly, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Olivia’s ear. “You missed a flyaway,” she added.

“Oh—yes,” said Olivia, who was wishing she had kept her hair messy just so Janna would straighten it again. “So—shall we?”

“I think we should wait just a _tiny_ bitlonger,” said Janna, squinting up at the building. “Don’t know about you, but I’m not one for high-stakes climbing when it’s still a bit too dark to make out the building. Are your shoes non-slippery?”

“As much as any shoes are, I suppose,” said Olivia, looking dubiously down at her heels.

“It’ll have to do,” said Janna, who was still focused on the building.

Olivia looked up at the building as well, a cold, leaden feeling in her stomach. “I knew the Quagmire triplets,” she said softly. “They were at Prufrock for a good few months before the Baudelaires showed up. Isadora read through the library’s entire poetry collection in a week and gave me her neatly written critiques because she said that the school wasn’t challenging her enough.”

The unreadable expression on Janna’s face softened into something quieter and much more deeply sad. “I knew their parents,” she said. “And them, for a very brief period of time when they were very small. Quigley used to draw little maps on my schematics.”

“Children shouldn’t be frightened,” said Olivia, quiet and somewhat shaky. “They should never have to feel like no one will come to their rescue.”

Janna nodded distantly, then said, “Sometimes, what _shouldn’t_ happen still does, regardless of how many good people try to stop it.”

The trees nearby were beginning to fall, the street now full of sunlight and people striding down the sidewalks with significantly more confidence now that they could see where they were going. Olivia swallowed hard, looking up at the building. “I’m an unemployed librarian,” she said. “This is well beyond anything I’ve ever done before.”

Janna smiled a little, then said, “From what I’ve seen, heard, and learned, you're an intrepid, courageous woman who set out on her own to look for children kidnapped by a villain who wouldn’t hesitate to kill you if he stood in his way. I'm pretty sure you're ready to climb this building.”

Olivia felt a strange, dizzy flutter in her chest at Janna’s words—an unusually poignant longing. It had been a very, very long time since anyone had said something like that about her; she hadn’t realized how much she’d needed to hear it. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Janna turned, looking at her, and Olivia noticed for the first time a sort of longing that mirrored her own. It was there only for a moment, and then Janna was smiling with an almost-too-easy grace and saying, “I speak only the facts.”

“In this case,” said Olivia, “the facts more than help.”

“In every case,” said Janna, “the facts help,” and pressed a rope into Olivia’s hands. “For safety,” she explained.

Olivia nodded slowly. “What does it attach to?” she asked hesitantly.

“Me,” said Janna, and without the driving scarf or the sunglasses, she suddenly looked very earnest and strikingly sweet. It wasn’t something that inspired breathless adventure or bravery, but—suddenly, Olivia was glad that this was the person who she was climbing up the building with.

“You’ll catch me if I fall,” she said, and halfway through she realized it wasn’t really a question.

“You won’t fall,” said Janna with certainty, and lightly touched Olivia’s cheek, letting her hand linger.

* * *

 

The sunlight caught in Janna’s hair ten stories up, threading through the dark strands falling into her face as she focused in on climbing up the building. Strange as it was, this high up, Olivia couldn’t find herself afraid, not thinking about the Quagmires and the Baudelaires and all that was at stake. Those children were more important than her being afraid.

“I don’t like heights all that much,” said Janna conversationally twelve stories up. “Jacques is generally better at these sort of covert missions.”

“ _Really,_ ” said Olivia, genuinely surprised. “You—you hold yourself with such confidence, I thought—”

“When one is a part of a secret organization,” Janna said, biting her lip as she held herself steady on the side of the building, “one learns to keep secrets and fears well hidden.”

“You aren’t hiding this one, though,” said Olivia, frowning. “You’re telling me.”

“You find out most things anyway,” said Janna, and looked over at Olivia with a mixture of pride and appreciation. “There really isn’t much point in hiding things from a woman who finds out what VFD is all on her lonesome. I don’t think I’ve heard of that happening…at all, really.”

“Oh?”

“To be honest,” said Janna, “I asked my brother if I could be the one sent on this mission.”

“You're flattering me,” said Olivia, not at all displeased but almost definitely blushing.

“I guess I am,” said Janna, who was somehow managing to look coyly at Olivia even while standing at a perpendicular angle to a forty-six story building. “And are my compliments appreciated?”

Olivia almost fell backwards off the building. Janna acted fast, grabbing Olivia and pulling her flush against her. _“Careful!”_ she gasped, sounding genuinely frightened. “Oh, wow, now _really_ isn’t the time to have this conversation.”

“I think I’m all right,” said Olivia, a bit dizzy and definitely very pleased. “But—yes. This conversation really is one we should have when we’re on solid ground. And _not_ on a solid wall.”

Janna nodded, looking sheepish, and went back to climbing. Olivia followed suit, still trying to figure out whether Janna was being flirtatious or just generally sweet.

“This whole thing is _extremely_ out of my element,” she said helplessly, not entirely sure what she was referring to.

“Again,” said Janna. “Solid ground conversation.”

“I-I mean, you just—swoop in with your taxi and now we’re climbing a building and I barely _know_ you—”

“Children do have a way of binding two people together—” Janna seemed to realize the implications of her statement, then added nervously, “Not that I’m implying we should have _children_ together, I, I meant mostly—to comfort and reassure—”

“Solid ground conversation,” said Olivia.

“Oh, definitely,” said Janna with relief, and they went back to climbing.

About seven stories went by without conversation. Then Olivia said, “So—do you do this sort of thing often?”

“What, put my foot in my mouth and nearly cause a perfectly lovely librarian to fall about twenty stories?” said Janna dryly. “Oh, yes, I do it every Saturday right after I all but blackmail my brother into letting me drive his taxi.”

That made Olivia laugh, a little nervous at first but then genuinely amused. “It’s comforting to know I’m not the only one that’s a little out of sorts,” she admitted.

Janna smiled too. “It really is,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be climbing up a building with any other librarian, if that helps.”

“Unemployed librarian,” Olivia corrected.

“I’m of the mind that being a librarian isn’t so much a _vocation_ as it is a _passion,_ ” said Janna meditatively.

Olivia blinked, then smiled. “I’ve always felt the same way!” she said, stumbling a little on the building. She felt Janna’s hand on the small of her back, steadying her, and realized very suddenly how close they were standing. She decided not to draw attention to it. “It’s something—innate, for me, the protection and preservation of knowledge. It means the world to me.”

“That's incredibly admirable,” said Janna.

Olivia considered this. Then she said, “You know, you compliment me more than you talk about yourself.”

“You’re observant to a pretty frustrating degree,” said Janna lightly.

“If you like me so much—”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? We barely know each other.”

“I said I barely know you,” said Olivia pointedly. “You know me well enough.”

Janna was quiet for a moment, scanning the story they were on for any sign of Duncan or Isadora Quagmire. Then she said, “I’m fascinated by the fusion of technology and information, and I believe there might be something of a future there. I don’t know if I like being a part of a secret organization—I think I’d much rather settle down and do something quiet—but there are dangers that surround people I love and I can’t sit back and watch if there’s something I can do to help. And I compliment you because I like the way you blush when I compliment you, and it’s been a while since—” She drew in a soft breath, then said, “Since,” a bit awkwardly, as though it in itself was a concluding statement.

Olivia smiled a little. Keeping the gun steady in one hand, she let go with the other, reaching out to quietly place her hand on Janna’s elbow. Janna looked over at her in surprise. “It’s been a while _since,_ ” said Olivia, “for me as well.”

They stood still and shy on the side of the building. Then Janna said, loudly, “Quagmires,” and Olivia, blushing, said, “Right,” and their mission resumed, both of them looking more than a little bit pleased.

* * *

 

The penthouse was empty.

“Oh,” said Janna, and drew in a shaky breath, slumping against the window. Olivia wanted to comfort her, or reach out, or do _something_ other than just stand there, feeling numb and exhausted.

“Horrible things shouldn’t happen to intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate people,” she said. “Particularly not if those people are children. And particularly not if those children are being used as pawns.”

Janna didn’t correct Olivia or add a qualifier. She just sort of nodded.

“We _will_ find them,” said Olivia, because damn it, if Janna wasn’t feeling up to being the dashing agent in a borrowed taxi, Olivia would step into her shoes, at least for a moment. “We will. I don’t know how, but—but we will. Somehow.”

“You’re new to this,” said Janna, and smiled tiredly. “I wonder how you’d have taken the schism.”

“With Very Firm Determination,” said Olivia, and stepped across the room to carefully unhook the safety rope from Janna. For the first time, she noticed that Janna was actually a bit shorter than her. “Or Vigorously Friendly Diligence—or—”

Janna reached up to a loose strand of Olivia’s hair and twisted it lightly, absently, around her finger. Then she said, “I like you, Olivia Caliban.”

“Is this our solid ground conversation?” asked Olivia, her heart in her throat. “We’ve barely met, Janna, I don’t know if—”

“If there's anything I have learned in my time in VFD,” said Janna, “it’s that time goes by way too fast, and that a connection between two people, while something that should still be taken slowly and cautiously, is still something worth at least recognizing.”

Olivia tried to remember the last time someone had looked directly at her, and couldn’t. Olivia tried to remember the last time she hadn’t felt like an echo in an orphanage, in a dingy little preparatory school, on the trolley, and couldn’t. Olivia tried to imagine throwing this connection away, and couldn’t.

“What, exactly, do you mean by _like me?_ ” she said tentatively.

“I don’t know,” said Janna, whose hand had slipped from Olivia’s hair to rest quietly under her jaw. “But I know that I want you next to me.”

“That seems more than reasonable,” said Olivia softly.

“Pretty genius, if I do say so myself,” said Janna.

“Absolutely—oh—”

The suction cups and the rope fell to the floor with a clatter, and Olivia uttered a stuttering gasp against Janna’s mouth, her hands fluttering to cup Janna’s face. “Oh oh oh,” she mumbled, breathless and quite dizzy—really, this was very unprecedented and absolutely appreciated and not like her at _all_ —and she felt Janna’s muffled giggle as they stumbled back and fell onto one of the expensive sofas, Janna landing underneath her.

Olivia pulled back, saw Janna with her lipstick smudged ever so slightly and her beautiful dark eyes warm with a shy affection. “Generally,” she said breathlessly, “I don’t kiss strangers in someone else’s penthouse.”

“I’m not a stranger, though, am I?” said Janna, propping herself up on her elbows. “This is a partnership. And I don’t think you’re going anywhere even after you and I rescue the Quagmires, Olivia, because you're an adventurer and you were born to put out fires.”

It didn’t feel like a failure, this first mission. Not really. Not with Janna looking at her like she’d saved the world five times over already just by being there. Olivia smiled slightly, and kissed Janna again, and decided she _would_ save the world. She’d scaled a building, after all.


End file.
